United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Social Security Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal: (1) pension offset provisions applicable to husband's and wife's insurance benefits, widow's and widower's insurance benefits, and mother's and father's insurance benefits with respect to Old-Age and Survivors insurance benefit payments; and (2) windfall elimination provisions with respect to computation of the primary insurance amount of an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2003 - Adjusts the basic Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity amount for surviving spouses, age 62 and older, of former military personnel to: (1) 35 percent of the retired pay of the decedent (current law), for months before October 2004; (2) 40 percent for months during FY 2005; (3) 45 percent for months during FY 2006; (4) 50 percent for months during FY 2007; and (5) 55 percent for months after FY 2007. Adjusts similarly percentage amounts with respect to survivors of reserve personnel and survivors of persons who die while on active duty. Provides a corresponding phased elimination of the SBP supplemental annuity authorized to be provided to such surviving spouses. Requires periodic recomputation of: (1) annuity amounts beginning in October 2004; and (2) retired pay reductions for supplemental survivor annuities. Provides a one-year open enrollment period for SBP participation, commencing October 1, 2004, for those currently not participating, those electing to increase current coverage, and those wishing to participate in the supplemental SBP. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to require appropriate premiums for SBP participation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Debt Cancellation for the New Millennium Act - Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to urge the President to commence immediately efforts within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, as well as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral development institutions, to accomplish certain modifications in the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, including requiring that: (1) the amount of debt relief provided by the IMF and the World Bank under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative for a HIPC be sufficient to completely cancel 100 percent of the HIPC's debt owed to such institutions; (2) no provision of debt relief under the Initiative be conditioned on any country's implementing a structural adjustment or stabilization program of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility of the IMF or any other such program operated solely or jointly by the IMF or the World Bank; (3) all HIPCs that are working in good faith to develop and implement their Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) pursuant to the Initiative not be required to make service payments on their debts (ensuring that the savings from such debt relief will be invested in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, health care, education, and poverty reduction programs); and (4) the eligibility requirements of the Initiative be revised to make Bangladesh, Haiti, and Nigeria eligible. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide, upon request, for technical assistance to HIPCs regarding compliance with the conditions for debt relief pursuant to the Initiative, including the development and implementation of their PSRPs.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Child Poverty Reduction Act -Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to: (1) make it an additional purpose of TANF to reduce poverty of families with children in the United States; and (2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make a child poverty reduction bonus grant to any State whose child poverty rate for a completed calendar year is less than the rate the State achieved during the preceding calendar year.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Recognizes the accomplishments of Ignacy Jan Paderewski as a musician, composer, statesman, and philanthropist, and acknowledges his invaluable efforts in forging close Polish-American ties, on the 11th anniversary of the return of his remains to Poland.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Recognizes the role of women's sports programs in the development of women's leadership skills and supports the goals of Women's Leadership Through Sports Day.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Expresses the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of the House of Representatives to the courageous people of Iran for their brave expressions of support following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Recognizes and supports the people of Iran in their daily struggle for democracy, reform, self-determination, human rights, economic prosperity, and the rule of law. Urges the President to express support for the Iranian people's domestic movement for democracy and reform and their legitimate aspiration for freedom and democracy.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Recognizes the historical significance of February 19, 1942, the date Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Roosevelt, restricting the freedom of Japanese Americans, German Americans, and Italian Americans, and legal resident aliens through required identification cards, travel restrictions, seizure of personal property, and internment. Supports recognizing those events on a National Day of Remembrance.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Calls for: (1) recognition of private organizations and health care providers for promoting awareness of and research on scleroderma; (2) greater awareness of the symptoms of scleroderma and contributions to the fight against it; (3) the Government to promote awareness, to adequately fund scleroderma research projects, and to continue to consider ways to improve the quality of health care services for scleroderma patients; (4) the National Institutes of Health to continue to play a leadership role in the fight against scleroderma; and (5) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to give priority to establishing a national epidemiological study to better track and gather information about scleroderma.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2003
Fallen Heroes Flag Act of 2003 - Allows the Representative (Member of Congress, including Delegate or Resident Commissioner to Congress) of the immediate family of a deceased fire fighter, law enforcement officer, emergency technician, or other rescue worker who died in the line of duty to provide the family, at their request, with a Capitol-flown flag, together with a certificate, signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Representative providing the flag, which contains an expression of sympathy for the family.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2003
Authorizes the President to award a gold medal to each of the seven crew members who perished aboard the space shuttle Columbia: Rick D. Husband; Michael P. Anderson; Laurel Clark; David M. Brown; William C. McCool; Kapana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2003
San Gabriel River Watershed Study Act - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to conduct and report to specified congressional committees on a special resource study of the following areas in California: (1) the San Gabriel River and its tributaries north of and including the City of Santa Fe Springs; and (2) the San Gabriel Mountains within the territory of the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy. Provides for the consideration of regional flood control and drainage needs and publicly owned infrastructure such as wastewater treatment facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) increases in widow's and widower's insurance benefits by reason of delayed retirement; and (2) the treatment of delayed retirement in cases of simultaneous entitlement to OASDI benefits and widow's or widower's insurance benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2003 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act with respect to determining entitlement to and the amount of any monthly benefit, including any lump-sum death payment, payable under OASDI on the basis of the wages and self-employment income of any individual. Deems such an individual to have been paid a wage (according to a specified formula) during each month during which the individual was engaged for at least 80 hours in providing care to a dependent relative without monetary compensation for up to five years of such service. Makes this Act inapplicable in the case of any monthly benefit or lump-sum death payment if a larger benefit or payment would be payable without its application.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to provide for full benefits for disabled widows and widowers without regard to age or any previous reduction in OASDI benefits. Declares that there shall be no reduction in the widow's or widower's insurance benefit of an individual for any month in which such individual is under a disability.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code respecting the Hope Scholarship Credit to: (1) extend coverage to fees, books, supplies, and equipment, and exempt such expenses from information reporting requirements; and (2) not reduce such Credit by Federal Pell Grant and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant amounts.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends the Federal Law Enforcement Pay Reform Act of 1990 to revise the special pay adjustments for (percentage differentials payable to) Federal law enforcement officers in specified consolidated metropolitan statistical areas. Includes Capitol Police as law enforcement officers under such Act. Eliminates the limitation on the aggregate of basic pay and premium pay with respect to availability pay for Federal criminal investigators.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
United States Cadet Nurse Corps Equity Act of 2003 - Deems service of a person as a member of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps between July 1, 1943, and December 15, 1945 (qualified service), to be active military service for purposes of all laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Requires: (1) the Secretary of Defense to issue an honorable discharge to each person whose qualified service warrants one; and (2) the discharge to be issued before the end of the one-year period beginning on the enactment of this Act. Prohibits benefits from being paid to persons as a result of such enactment for any period before the enactment date.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the two-year waiting period for divorced spouse's benefits following a divorce.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal the seven-year restriction on eligibility for widow's and widower's insurance benefits based on disability.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Housing Preservation Matching Grant Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make matching grants to States (including the District of Columbia and U.S. commonwealths, territories, and possessions) for low-income housing preservation. Sets forth requirements for projects: (1) with Department of Housing and Urban Development-insured mortgages; (2) with section 8 assistance; or (3) purchased by the residents.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Condemns the practice of execution by stoning, and calls upon the international community to recognize this practice as a gross violation of human rights. Requests that the President: (1) communicate this resolution to governments imposing this cruel punishment and urge the suspension of sentences of death by stoning; and (2) direct the Secretary of State to work with the international community to repeal stoning laws and adhere to international standards of human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Violence Against Women Civil Rights Restoration Act of 2003 - Rewrites provisions of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 regarding remedies for civil rights violations. Makes a person who commits a crime of violence motivated by gender and thus deprives another of a prescribed right liable to the injured party where: (1) in connection with the offense, the defendant or the victim travels in interstate or foreign commerce, the defendant or the victim uses a facility or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce, or the defendant employs a weapon, a narcotic or drug listed under the Controlled Substances Act, or other noxious or dangerous substances that have traveled in interstate or foreign commerce; (2) the offense interferes with commercial or other economic activity in which the victim is engaged; or (3) the offense was committed with intent to interfere with the victim's commercial or other economic activity. Authorizes the Attorney General, whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that any State, political subdivision, official, employee, or agent thereof has discriminated on the basis of gender in the investigation or prosecution of gender-based crimes and that discrimination is pursuant to a pattern or practice of resistance to investigating or prosecuting gender-based crimes, to institute a civil action in U.S. district court for appropriate equitable relief.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a special rule allowing a minimum credit against the alternative minimum tax where stock acquired pursuant to an incentive stock option is sold or exchanged at a loss.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
National AMBER Alert Network Act of 2003 - Requires the Attorney General to assign an AMBER Alert Coordinator of the Department of Justice to act as the national Coordinator of the AMBER Alert communications network regarding abducted children. Requires the coordinator to: (1) seek to eliminate gaps in the network; (2) work with States to encourage the development of additional network elements and to ensure regional coordination; and (3) act as the nationwide point of contact for network development and for regional coordination of alerts on abducted children through the network. Directs the Coordinator to: (1) notify and consult with the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning each child abduction for which an AMBER Alert is issued; and (2) establish minimum standards for the issuance of alerts and for the extent of their dissemination (limited to the geographic areas most likely to facilitate the recovery of the abducted child). Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of notification or communications systems along highways for alerts and other information for the recovery of abducted children. Includes among permissible activities the development or enhancement of electronic message boards, and the placement of additional signage, along highways. Directs the Attorney General to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of programs and activities for the support of AMBER Alert communications plans.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
TV Consumer Choice Act of 2003 - Prohibits specified provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 from being construed to authorize the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require, or prescribe any schedule for the implementation of, digital television reception capability in television broadcast reception equipment. States that the requirements and schedule established by FCC regulation for the implementation of such capability in such equipment shall not be effective except as expressly hereafter provided by Act of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Jumpstart Broadband Act - Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allocate no less than an additional 255 megahertz of contiguous spectrum in the 5 gigahertz band for unlicensed use by wireless broadband devices while ensuring that Department of Defense devices and systems are not compromised. Directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to establish standards for interference protection which enable incumbent Federal government agency users of such allocated spectrum to continue such use. Directs the FCC to: (1) adopt minimal technical and device rules for efficient use of such allocated spectrum by wireless broadband devices; and (2) amend its rules to require that all wireless broadband devices manufactured after such rules amendment that operate in such allocated spectrum be capable of two-way digital communications and meet the interference protection standards.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Commends India on its celebration of Republic Day. Reiterates congressional support for continued strong relations between the United States and India.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 title III part A (Strengthening Institutions) to direct the Secretary of Education to provide grants and related assistance to certain institutions of higher education for activities to improve their capacity to serve students who are Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Gives priority to eligible institutions with a significant percentage of enrollment made up of such students who are low-income individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2003 - Permits retired members of the armed forces with service-connected disabilities to be paid both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation. Repeals provisions providing for special compensation for certain severely disabled military retirees and certain combat-related disabled uniformed services retirees.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Access to Hospitals Act of 2003 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to repeal specified reductions after FY 2000 and thereby extend certain modifications to disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments provided under the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000. Increases the Medicaid DSH allotment for the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Amends the Clean Air Act to allow reformulated gasoline rules of States for which a certain waiver is in effect (permitting them to enforce State motor vehicle emissions standards) to apply in an ozone nonattainment area in lieu of Environmental Protection Agency-promulgated requirements if the State rules will achieve reductions in the aggregate mass of emissions of toxic air pollutants and the aggregate mass of emissions of ozone-forming compounds at least as great as would result from application of the Federal requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Armed Forces Retirement Equity Act - Removes the requirement that a person attain 60 years of age before being entitled to military retired pay for nonregular (reserve) service.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Act - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to expand activities addressing inflammatory bowel disease, emphasizing genetic, animal model, and clinical research. Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish a national program of prevention and epidemiology concerning such disease, addressing its prevalence and public and professional awareness. Directs the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science to study public and private insurance standards for coverage of inflammatory bowel therapies. Directs the General Accounting Office to study problems inflammatory bowel disease patients have applying for disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Child Support Enforcement Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (relating to the deduction for bad debts) to allow a custodial parent to claim unpaid child support payments as a deduction. Bars a delinquent debtor from filing an amended return in any subsequent year to reflect the subsequent payment of unpaid child support. Includes unpaid child support in the gross income of the delinquent debtor. Prohibits any discrepancy between the tax returns of a custodial parent and a delinquent debtor concerning whether a child support payment has been made from serving as a basis for selecting an individual's tax return for general audit.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Hybrid Vehicle Incentive Act - Amends Federal highway law to require a State to permit a hybrid vehicle with fewer than two occupants to operate in high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. Defines "hybrid vehicle" as a motor vehicle: (1) that draws propulsion energy from onboard sources of stored energy which are both an internal combustion or heat engine using combustible fuel and a rechargeable energy storage system; and (2) which (in the case of a passenger automobile or light truck) for 2002 and later models meets certain clean air requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Housing Bond and Credit Modernization and Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the required use of certain principal repayments on mortgage subsidy bond financings to redeem bonds; (2) modify the purchase price limitation under mortgage subsidy bond rules based on median family income; and (3) define the term "area median gross income" for low-income housing credit projects.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Advisory Board Act of 2003 - Establishes the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Advisory Board which shall: (1) operate in coordination with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and (2) provide advice to the President and the National Science and Technology Council on research investment policy, strategy, program goals, and management processes relating to nanoscience and nanotechnology. Directs the President to establish a National Nanotechnology Coordination Office to provide necessary technical and administrative support to the Advisory Board and to coordinate Federal nanotechnology activities between Federal agencies, private sector industry, and academia. Requires the Advisory Board to: (1) advise the President and the Council, and inform the Congress, on matters relating to the National Nanotechnology Program; (2) consult with academic industrial entities, State and local governments and agencies, and other appropriate entities conducting research on and using nanotechnology; (3) ensure that such Program considers fully the societal implications of nanoscale science and technology; and (4) transmit an annual report, which shall include a technology transition study, to the President, the head of each agency involved in the Program, and specified congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Gun Show Background Check Act of 2003 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to require registration of gun show promoters and to set forth the responsibilities of promoters, licensees, and other transferors. Provides that if any part of a firearm transaction takes place at a gun show, each licensed importer, manufacturer, and dealer who transfers one or more firearms to a person who is not licensed shall, within ten days after the transfer, submit a report of the transfer to the Secretary of the Treasury. Sets forth penalties for violations. Grants the Secretary authority to enter the place of business of any gun show promoter and any place where a gun show is held, during business hours and without a showing of reasonable cause or a warrant, for purposes of examining records and the inventory of licensees conducting business to determine compliance with this Act. Increases penalties for: (1) serious record-keeping violations by licensees; and (2) violations of criminal background check requirements. Modifies provisions regarding the national instant criminal background check system and the destruction of records in cases where receipt of a firearm would not violate the Brady Act or State law to provide for such destruction as soon as possible, consistent with the Attorney General's responsibility to ensure privacy and security of the system and to prevent system fraud and abuse, but in no event later than 90 days after the licensee first contacts the system.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Student Bill of Rights - Directs the Secretary of Education to make annual determinations as to whether each State's public school system provides all its students with educational resources to succeed academically and in life. Requires such education to enable students to: (1) acquire knowledge and skills necessary for responsible citizenship; (2) meet challenging academic achievement standards; and (3) compete and succeed in a global economy. Requires each system to do so through: (1) providing specified fundamentals of educational opportunity to students at each public elementary and secondary school; (2) providing educational services in school districts that receive funds for disadvantaged students that are, taken as a whole, at least comparable to educational services provided in school districts not receiving such funds; and (3) complying with any final Federal or State court order in any matter concerning the adequacy or equitableness of the system. Requires withholding of specified portions of its Federal funding for administrative expenses if a system: (1) fails to meet a yearly interim goal; (2) does not remedy, after two school years, a failure to provide comparable educational services to schools that receive funds for disadvantaged children; or (3) does not comply with a court order. Allows students or parents aggrieved by violations of this Act to bring civil actions for enforcement in Federal district courts. Directs the Commissioner of Education Statistics to study the effects of educational disparities on economic growth and on national defense.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Peace Corps Charter for the 21st Century Act - Amends the Peace Corps Act to require all recruiting of volunteers to be carried out under the direction of the Director of the Peace Corps. Conditions the President's authority to detail or assign Peace Corps volunteers to certain Federal and State agencies and other entities upon a determination that such a detail or assignment does not contradict the standing of such volunteers as being independent from foreign policy-making and intelligence collection. Requires the Director of the Peace Corps to report to Congress on: (1) efforts undertaken to improve coordination of Peace Corps activities with activities of international voluntary service organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) volunteer program, and of host country voluntary service organizations; (2) any major new Peace Corps initiatives under review for the upcoming fiscal year or undertaken in the previous fiscal year; (3) the Peace Corp's plans for doubling the number of volunteers from 2002; (4) any standard or special security procedures for any country in which the Peace Corps operates programs or is considering doing so, including an assessment whether security conditions would be enhanced by colocating volunteers with international or local nongovernmental organizations or placing multiple volunteers in one location; (5) student loan forgiveness programs currently available to Peace Corps volunteers; and (6) initiatives the Peace Corps intends to pursue with eligible countries where the presence of volunteers would facilitate a greater understanding that there exists a universe of commonly shared human values and aspirations. Requires the Director to develop a training program for all Peace Corps volunteers in the education, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases. Increases Peace Corps volunteer readjustment allowances from $125 to $275 a month. Establishes a program to award grants to private nonprofit corporations to enable returned Peace Corps volunteers to use their knowledge and expertise to develop and carry out programs and projects that promote the goals of the Peace Corps.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude stock options and employee stock purchase plans from the definition of wages for purposes of employment taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Commends: (1) members of the U.S. armed forces for their service to the Nation in combating terrorism and preserving peace and stability; and (2) the families of such individuals for helping to make such service possible. Makes a commitment to support service members as they carry out assigned missions.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Blind Empowerment Act of 2003 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to increase, by specified increments over five years, the level of earnings demonstrating the ability of a blind person to engage in substantial gainful activity for purposes of determining disability insurance benefit payments.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to prohibit: (1) introduction into commerce of prerecorded digital music disc products that are mislabeled, or falsely, or deceptively advertised or invoiced; and (2) removal or mutilation of any label required by either this Act or any rules or regulations prescribed by the Federal Trade Commission before the time a prerecorded digital music disc product is sold and delivered to the ultimate consumer. States that such transactions constitute either an unfair method of competition, or an unfair and deceptive act or practice in commerce. Authorizes the Commission to develop rules and regulations governing such transactions. Amends Federal copyright law to exempt from its prohibitions against circumvention of copyright protection systems any persons acting solely in furtherance of scientific research into technological protection measures. Declares it is not a violation of copyright law, but fair use, to: (1) circumvent a technological measure in connection with access to, or the use of, a work if such circumvention does not result in an infringement of the copyright in the work; or (2) manufacture, distribute, or make noninfringing use of a hardware or software product capable of enabling significant noninfringing use of a copyrighted work.
![Official portrait of Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-18]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/671024d7ec807bca66057fcb_200.jpg)